


Progress

by ikawritesthings



Series: Thanks for the Memories [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: (according to ghost wilbur), (it's one scene and very light), Alexis | Quackity Needs a Hug, Angst, Canon Compliant, Crying, Dream Team SMP Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Dream Team SMP Spoilers, Karl Jacobs Needs a Hug, Mild Gore, Other, Post-Manberg-Pogtopia War on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Sadge, Sapnap Needs a Hug (Video Blogging RPF), Soulmates, Time Travel, Time Travelling Karl Jacobs, Web Series: Tales from the SMP, could be seen as romantic ig but it wasnt written with that intention, dont hold it against him, karl has forgotten his friends, no beta we die like tommy should've in the disc war finale, sapnap gets very emotional, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:48:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29577048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikawritesthings/pseuds/ikawritesthings
Summary: 'They could only understand so much of what was written, enough to realise Karl was a time traveller, and had been going between timelines for close to half a year now, but not enough to understand why he didn’t recognise them. The most they could decipher was a few vague sentences about ‘forgetting himself’ and some frantically scribbled lists of ‘Things to Remember' that included their names.'TLDR; Quackity and Sapnap just want Karl to remember the way things used to be. Karl hates himself for forgetting.(Technically a sequel to another story I wrote called 'Empty' but can be read as a standalone!)
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & Karl Jacobs & Sapnap, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Series: Thanks for the Memories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2172891
Comments: 10
Kudos: 70





	Progress

“Mushroom stew? Who the hell eats this garbage? It’s literally like piss in a bowl.”

Sapnap looked up from where he was boiling water to meet the judging eyes of Quackity, who leered at the vegetables set on the chopping board as if they’d committed some atrocity against his family. He hip-checked him, 

“Don’t be a baby, it’s not like you’re the one eating it.” He reached over the pot and retrieved one of his smaller daggers from where it was resting on the wooden countertop, bringing it down with a satisfying _smack!_ “Just chop the damn mushrooms.”

His friend huffed, but complied. The usually combative and chaotic pair worked in a quiet synchronicity, adding the mushrooms, spices, and various other ingredients to the pot. The smell of stew wafted through the hallways of the small house once they were done, settling over everything and blanketing the home in a comforting warmth. Sapnap served up the food into a wooden bowl, grabbing a spoon and heading down the hall towards the room where Karl was resting.

 _Karl…_ They had no idea what had happened to their friend. After the shock in the secret room, Karl had tried to stand up and run far too quickly for how weak his body was. The poor boy turned pale, practically crumpled into a heap on the floor, and had to be dragged out by Quackity. They’d set him up in the spare room of Sapnap’s place, (a room he built specifically for when Karl or Quackity stayed over, not that they needed to know that), and spent the rest of the afternoon reading the books - the diaries - from the secret room that they’d brought back with them. They could only understand so much of what was written, enough to realise Karl was a time traveller, and had been going between timelines for close to half a year now, but not enough to understand why he didn’t recognise them. The most they could decipher was a few vague sentences about ‘forgetting himself’ and some frantically scribbled lists of ‘Things to Remember' that included their names.

 _Lot of good that did,_ Sapnap thought, pushing open the door with his elbow, _I just hope he doesn’t try to run away again…_

Karl was sitting upright in his bed, knees curled to his chest with a book resting on top of them. Where he got that, Sapnap had no fucking clue, but he watched for a few seconds as his eyes finished scanning the page he was reading before coming up to meet his own. He offered a smile, to which Karl returned, carefully closing and setting aside his book.

_Good start._

“Hi,” he stepped in, conscious of every small movement he made, treating Karl like a frightened animal who could get spooked and run at any moment, “I brought you food. Mushroom stew, or ‘piss stew’ as Quackity lovingly calls it.”

Karl chuckled - “Well, now I’m not sure I want it,” - and accepted the bowl, muttering a soft thank you. 

“How’re you feeling?” Sapnap asked, pulling up a chair.

“... Better, thank you. I’m guessing I passed out back there, sorry if I scared you at all. I can be a bit,” he gestured vaguely to his head, “scatterbrained when I’ve just come back. The crossover always makes me feel a bit funny.”

“Crossover?”

“Yeah, like, between timelines. Not fun.”

Sapnap nodded slowly, “Do you remember me now, then? Or Quackity?”

Karl paused for a moment, staring into the stew, “Not really… no. I’m sorry.”

“... Oh.”

He must’ve noticed the way Sapnap’s shoulders slumped, and quickly backtracked,

“Well, not in the way you want! I feel like,” he took a moment, as if to collect his thoughts, “I know you. And Quackity. As cheesy as it’s gonna sound, I know your souls. I feel safe around you, comfortable. I’ve just spoken to so many different versions of you that it’s difficult to remember who you are specifically.” He set a comforting hand on top of Sapnap’s, “They’ll come to me eventually, I just need to spend more time here is all.”

Sapnap nodded, ignoring how much it still stung. Karl was sitting right in front of him, and yet he felt like he was a million miles away. He wasn’t acting like himself, or maybe he was, Sapnap didn’t know. _He couldn’t tell._

“Have you met any versions of me recently then?” He asked, forcing the negative thoughts into the back of his mind. Besides, he was genuinely curious.

“Mm, well. There was someone in the timeline I was just in that reminds me of you. His name was James, and we were attending a masquerade together, hosted by some ultra rich guy named Sir Billiam.”

Sapnap snorted, “What a dumb name.”

Karl giggled, “It’s not the weirdest I’ve heard! But yeah, strange. Rich people and that. Anyways, James was really nice. We got along quite well, and I felt a strange sort of… connection to him. Like I knew him already, you know? Like we were already friends.”

“You both have the same energy, the same aura. So I’d say he was a version of you.” He smiled.

“What happened to him?”

Karl’s face fell for a second, before he plastered his serene expression back across his features, “Let’s just say the masquerade wasn’t… held for the reasons we thought it was. Bad things happened, I’d rather not say it out loud.”

_Ohhh-kay, lock that one up in the “questions to be asked when Karl isn’t missing half his brain and also maybe traumatised” box._

The door slammed open, making them both jump out of their skins. Sapnap reached for his sword, before realising he’d left it downstairs - luckily, it seemed, as the intruder was only Quackity.

“I found it!” he beamed, hugging a big, heavy looking leather book to his chest as he stumbled his way into sitting beside Sapnap.

(No, not on a chair beside him, like a normal person. On the same damn chair.)

“Quackity, get your fat ass off my chair!”

“You love my fat ass Sapnap, now shut up and look.”

Seemingly unaware of Karl’s presence, Quackity set down the book onto the bed with a grin. It was about twice the size of his hand, bound in leather like the books they found in Karl’s secret room. The pages were warped, and whatever was pinned and stuck on the pages basically doubled it’s height. On the front, there was a small, sewn in pocket, clearly put on later than the rest of the book was made, and in it was a small photo. It was a bit weathered, presumably from exposure to the sun, but it was clearly a photo of the three of them: Karl, Quackity, and Sapnap. Karl was in the center, grinning with an arm thrown over both Quackity and Sapnap’s shoulder’s, bright and happy as usual. Quackity was grimacing, looking at the camera like he was upset at the situation, (though if you looked close enough you could clearly see the smile he was trying to fight down), and Sapnap was smirking, throwing up a lazy peace sign with his outer hand, resting the other on the nape of Karl’s neck. “This,” he finally acknowledged Karl, meeting his confused stare with a manic grin, “Is a book you made full of old photos, notes, memorabilia, shit like that. Y’know, ‘cos you’re stupid and sappy.” He flipped the book open to the first page, where they’d all scribbled their names and some… not so tasteful doodles that made No-Memory Karl blush, “Figured it could help jog your memory or something.”

Sapnap adjusted so he was peering over Quackity’s shoulder, stabilising his friend, (“seriously, Quackity, you’re more off the chair than you are on it!”) with an arm around his shoulder. Karl nodded slowly, also shifting so he could see the pages better. Sapnap squinted at the bottom of the opening page, catching something in Karl’s handwriting before the page was turned,

“Don’t forget these memories! :)”

_Did he make this book because… he was scared of forgetting us that bad?_

“Oooh, this is a good photo, hey, remember this, Sapnap?”

The photo was one taken in secret, the photographer hiding in some sort of shrubbery. It depicted Quackity, folded in half and clutching his stomach, face screwed up mid-laugh. Facing him was Sapnap, holding his arms up zombie-style. His hair was plastered to his forehead, and he was completely soaked, glaring menacingly at the laughing Quackity.

Sapnap huffed, “Not a good photo. I do not remember this one bit. Nope.”

“Let me remind you then! I pushed you into the lake by the community house when you weren’t paying attention like an idiot!” Quackity wheezed and looked up at Karl, “You remember this right Karl? Right? We made fun of him for weeks!”

Karl frowned, running a fingertip across the surface of the photo-

_Karl laugh//, /////// // //////// /// ////// chased ea/////// ///// /// ////////// /////._

_Quac//// //// /is //////// /// Sa//ap ///// //, //////// /// // /// ///// /// bur////// /// face int/ /// ////._

_“That’s wha/ /// ge/!” // //////, ///////// Quac///// at////// // fre/ himself._

He blinked a few times, grounding himself, unaware of how he was being watched so hopefully by the two boys sitting across from him.

“S-Sorry, kind of? There’s fragments but… not really.”

Quackity deflated, but tried his best to hide it with a smile,

“No problem, Karlos!” He flipped a few pages over, tuning out Sapnap quietly explaining the nickname, “Uhh… here, here!” He gestured excitedly at a letter that had been haphazardly taped to the page, pushing the book to Sapnap and demanding he remove it. The paper was weathered, and required extreme care as he gently pried it from the book and handed it to Karl, who treated it with similar care. The words on the page were slightly smudged, but still eligible:

_“QUACKITY!_

_We miss you man, things haven’t been the same since you joined the Schlatt Administration, you barely come to hang out anymore! Karl and I have been exploring since the Revolutionary War I fought with Dream, I needed some time away, and it’s been super fun! We’re staying in a jungle house right now, and Karl literally won’t stop trying to feed the ocelots. I told him so many times that they’re not like cats but he won’t listen and keeps trying to pet them. He’s also hoarding ALL the good loot we find because he wants to give it to you. He’s seriously like a puppy._

_You should’ve come with us, adventuring is more fun than politics. We can meet you somewhere if you change your mind, from what I’ve heard from Dream you need some time away. Write us back ASAP!_

_Sapnap.”_

  
  


Next to his name was a little hand drawn flame, which made Karl smile unconsciously. He flipped the paper over and found a similar letter on the other side, only this one was clearly written by his hand. It was tidier than Sapnap’s, and there were small hearts doodled in every available space.

_“Quackity,_

_PLEASE COME SEE US! PLEASE! I know you’re an important government official now, (congrats by the way! I remember you mentioning that you didn’t really intend on winning, but things always happen for a reason), but we miss you so much. Every time I see something cool I turn around and half expect to see you hanging off Sapnap’s arm making_ _fun of him or something. Plus, there are so many cute cats in this jungle that Sap and I are staying in right now, you’d seriously love it here._

_Even if you can’t come though, don’t worry! We’ll be back soon, Dream has been writing to Sapnap constantly begging him to come back, though he won’t say why. Something about political tensions, you probably have a better idea than I do, Mr. Vice President (President? I don’t know how coalition governments work). Plus, I’ve saved you a bunch of cool stuff we found. I’m so excited!_

_I MISS YOU AND I LOVE YOU,_

_YOUR BEST PAL EVER, KARL JACOBS!_

_Sapnap won’t say it but he loves you too.”_

Karl handed the letter back to Sapnap, 

“Do you remember any of that month or so we spent away?” he asked, tucking the letter back into the pages of the book.

_Karl sighed, lean/// //// //////// /// ////,_

_“Sa////?” // //////, “/// // /// //ink Quack//y ///// wan/ // //me?”_

_//pn// /////// //// ////// /h was ///////// /////////// for dinner //////, /////// ///// //// /// a sad smi//._

_“Dunno,” he shru/////, “////// /// //to poli//// now.”_

He shook his head gently,

“No… I’m sorry.”

Sapnap’s hands clenched around the edges of the book, shoulders tensing in anger. Quackity could sense the storm that was about to erupt, but unfortunately wasn’t quick enough to prevent it,

“Sapnap-”

“This is such bullshit!” The other boy stood suddenly, a dark expression suddenly clouding his features. Quackity barely managed to stay sat on the chair, having to grab the edge of the bed to catch himself, “How can you not remember _any_ of that month?!” He began to pace, ignoring the way Karl was shrinking in on himself guiltily, “How could you not tell us about any of this… this time travel shit? If it was hurting you, why wouldn’t you tell us? Do you not trust us or something, is that it?”

“I don’t… no! No! That’s definitely not why! I-”

“Then _why_ Karl?” His voice cracked, betraying the amount of anguish he was trying to mask under his anger, “We trust you with everything, I trust you with everything.” He stopped pacing to drop to his knees in front of the bed, clearly exhausted, “ _Karl,_ that month was the happiest I’d been in such a long time. How can you not remember any of it?”

Tears flowed silently from Karl’s eyes, his heart shattering at the picture of absolute heartbreak sat before him. It hurt even more that he _didn’t know,_ couldn’t tell this man he clearly cared for so much anything, couldn’t answer any of his questions, couldn’t offer any comfort. He just stared in silent agony, battling a war in his own mind, trying to tear down the barriers keeping him from his own memories.

Quackity, bless him, gently guided Sapnap up and out of the room, returning about ten minutes later when the sun was dipping below the horizon and bathing the room in a golden glow. He took a seat, eyeing the book that Karl now had settled on his lap, staring blankly at the cover photo. Carefully, he took the boy’s hand, cradling it in both of his own,

“Karl?” He looked up from the book with a weak smile, “I’m sorry about Sapnap…”

“No, I get it.” He laughed sadly, “I’d be mad too… I just wish I could give him the answers he wants.” Quackity nodded. “Can I ask you something, though?”

“Of course.”

“This photo,” Karl used his free hand to gesture to the front of the book, “You don’t have that scar here. Can I… Do I know how you got it? Am I allowed to ask?”

“Oh, yeah. It happened like half a year later,” Quackity looked down to where he was holding Karl’s hand, gently tracing the bones with his thumb as he spoke, “Long story short, there’s this guy, Technoblade. Scary guy, really strong. I was an idiot and tried to fight him alone. Thought it was a sure win, like, I had full netherite armour and weapons and all he had was a pickaxe.”

“Asshole was way better than I thought, put the damn thing through my jaw and into my eye.” He laughed softly and looked up to meet Karl’s wide, scared eyes, “You and Sap almost killed me yourselves that day, you were so upset I went off on my own when I promised not to. I think if it weren’t for you two being worried mother hens and running around trying to find me, I would have had to deal with much worse than a scar.”

Karl’s breath hitched, a memory flashing through his mind-

_The tunnel was eerie and dark, exposed stone walls with the only light source being the few torches placed randomly along the path. Usually, Karl would’ve been terrified, outright refusing to go into such a sketchy area, but-_

_"KARL! C’MERE, QUICK!”_

_He’d sent Sapnap in alone, but went running in after him at his panicked yell. There, at the end of the tunnel, was a half demolished blackstone room. Chests were laid along the walls, each with a name, “Tommy, Tubbo, Wilbur, Fundy, Jack, Eret, Techno.” If he’d had a few more seconds to look around, maybe he’d have recognised the Final Control Room he’d heard so much about from Sapnap’s stories of War. Instead, he was more focused on the figure slumped in the corner._

_“Quackity, oh god,” he hurried over, kneeling beside his half-unconscious friend as Sapnap frantically searched his bag for healing potions. He was covered in bruises, sat in a pool of his own blood, half of his face torn through with some sort of weapon. His eye was shut, fluttering and twitching every now and then as it became more and more irritated with the grime and blood. His hair was matted to his forehead, his head was lolled to the side as he lazily stared at Karl, probably not even comprehending he was there due to blood loss._

_He flinched when Sapnap began applying healing to his deeper cuts, trying to lean away from the heat that came from both Sapnap’s touch and the effects of the potion. Karl quickly grabbed him, guiding him gently to rest against his front, carding shaking fingers through his hair and whispering words of encouragement to soothe him._

_Seeing someone he loved so dearly hurt so badly and not being able to do anything about it was Karl’s nightmare come true. All he could think as he watched Sapnap work, the boy clearly trying desperately to mask how scared he was as well, was **he doesn't deserve this. Why Quackity? Why do his boys always end up hurt and bleeding and sad and why is he always so useless why can't he help and be useful for once why can't he prevent these kinds of things happening-**_

Karl gently cupped the side of Quackity’s face, 

“I remember… I remember how we helped you… how worried I was…”

Quackity froze for a second. You could almost see the moment he caught up with what Karl was saying, as his eyes lit up and a dazzling grin split across his face.

“You do!? What happened when we were walking out?”

Karl laughed softly, “You asked if we were going on a date, while literally on death’s door. I had to actually talk Sapnap out of slapping you.”

Quackity let out the most excited giggle Karl had heard since he woke up, grabbing his other free hand and squeezing them both tightly,

“Progress! Progress! Progress!” he shook their joined hands like an overjoyed child, “You have no idea how happy I am, holy fuck-” his eyes began to water, “I’m… God! Karl!”

Karl smiled, quietly memorising how happy Quackity looked in the warm glow of the setting sun. 

“I’m trying, Quackity,” he said softly, squeezing his hands, “I promise, I’m really trying.”

“I know, I know.” Quackity let go, wiped his eyes, then slid the book out from under Karl’s arms, “Just give Sapnap some time, ok? Now get some rest.”

Karl groaned, “But I slept all day!” he called.

Quackity dismissed him with a wave from the doorway, book now tucked under his arm,

“Don’t care, Karlos! Sleep! Goodnight! Buenas noches!”

He shut the door behind him, leaving Karl alone with a fuzziness in both his brain and his heart.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> i wrote a sequel with more angst than before. what did u expect. theres one more work in this series i think, where we get the happy ending that we and they deserve and karl remembers his boys, but for now, only pain.
> 
> if anyone can figure out what's happening in karls memories u get a gold star!
> 
> tysm for reading!! comments make me very very happy so pls leave them! also feel free to point out any mistakes, this isn't beta'd lmao


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